Singita Sweni Lodge hotel - Kruger National Park, South Africa

Embracing a verdant river bank within a private 33,000 acre concession in South Africa’s Kruger National Park, Singita Sweni is a refreshing sidestep from your typical safari lodge. 

Designer Geordi De Sousa Costa of local firm Cecile & Boyd, has shown how its possible to conceive a modern African vernacular that feels thoroughly of its time and place with a vibrant colour scheme and a ‘random geometric’ concept inspired by insect wings, bird feathers and reptile scales. ‘We have referred to Singita Sweni as a little hidden jewel,’ says De Sousa Costa. ‘Inserting a contemporary look into the bush space has made the lodge appropriate and new within an African context.’

The six rooms are sunny oases lined with timber and glass and dressed with a scattering of vibrant accessories such as the bespoke hand-loomed rag and mohair cushions by family-run company Coral Stephens and hand-crafted textural wall tapestries, that hang behind the beds, by local company African Sketchbook.

This sense of joyfulness continues in the public spaces, where artist Sarah Pratt has created a series of vivid geometric paintings that match the angled prints on the rugs, while enhancing the sober low-slung mid-century-inspired furnishings.

After a morning spent viewing the concession’s wildlife, head to the spa, where treatments such as the ’Sun-Kissed Journey’ - a treatment that combats sun exposure - uses sustainably developed organic products from Terres d’Afrique. Relaxed and rejuvenated, tuck into a hearty brunch served at the pool-side deck while listening to the a soundtrack of snorting hippos as they drift along the river.